Locked Horns
by Kittiko-Blues
Summary: The only thing they had in common were their enormous egos, so it was only inevitable that they would soon collide with each other. Oneshot.


_**I just realized, I've been skipping all over the place with these scenes. I apologize for my unforgivable lack of chronology. -_-**_

_**Firstly, credit must be given where credit is due, so I must thank Brunette and her review she left on another one of my fics for inspiring me to write this. ;) Secondly, I think it's totally believable that Daniels and Chamberlin would have at least one Clash of the Titans during their time together. :P A quote from the novel about Daniels being "so unlearned a man" pretty much sums up the premise of this fic (as, again, there will be elements from both the movie and novel here). **_

_**Set after the salt acid incident and before the camp raid. **_

_**Daniels, Chamberlin/The Mummy: (c) Stephen Sommers**_

**Locked Horns**

The uncontrollable pounding in his chest was still plaguing him. Even with the incident now several hours old, it did not stop his heart from continuing to assault his aching ribs. The lingering taste of the awful shower of chemical carnage gripped his throat, the images of burnt flesh searing his mind.

Hell of a first day.

Clearing his thoughts of the horrifying scene was not easy, even for someone with a countenance immune to fear like Daniels. The scattered shards of his equilibrium had come back together, but he was having a hard time shaking the gruesome images from his head. _What kind of crazy, sick bastards think this shit up? An' what the hell is pressurized salt acid?_ It was, as Dr. Chamberlin summed up, a perfectly hidden booby trap. Daniels, who was not particularly conversant with ancient Egyptian ingenuity and equated most antique civilizations with uncultured savages, was therefore flabbergasted by the clever way the acid was concealed.

"What other face-meltin' contraptions is this place hidin'?" he muttered to himself. He was standing outside his tent, arms crossed tightly over his chest, staring blankly at the sand engulfing his boots. His two partners had gone about their business, Burns taking a washbasin with him so he could shave and Henderson retreating into the tent for a much needed rest. From not too far away, on the outskirts of the camp, Daniels could hear the shifting of sand and rock as the remaining diggers buried their three lost companions. _Hell of a way to go,_ he thought gloomily.

Daniels was under the impression that this would be an easy operation: dig, find, take, go home. The showcase of death that had erupted in the Anubis chamber was certainly _not_ anywhere in the trip description. Hundreds of questions were marching through his mind like soldiers on a parade ground, questions he wanted immediate answers to. In his opinion, there was an unacceptable lack of discretion between the two men whom he had put his dwindling trust into: Chamberlin and Beni. He knew interrogating Beni would get him nowhere since he had proven to be nothing but unreliable so far in locating any plunder. That left him with Chamberlin, and the pomposity the man exuded would be a tough shell to crack. But Daniels was up for the challenge. _He's got some explainin' to do._

He found Chamberlin in his tent, monocle over his eye with his nose buried in a book. He looked placid, unfazed, even bored. It was almost as if he hadn't witnessed what had happened down there at all, completely unaware of the obscene, unspeakable horror that had everyone still biting their nails nervously. It irked Daniels greatly. "Hey, Doc," he said harshly, startling Chamberlin out of his reverie. "We need to talk."

Chamberlin, although annoyed that his reading had been interrupted, folded the book up in his lap and looked at Daniels. "About what, Mr. Daniels?"

Daniels entered, took a seat from across the scholar. His expression was deeply set in irritation. "You said you was an expert about this place. What the hell was all _that_ shit about, an' how much more of it is there?" he said gruffly.

Chamberlin sighed exasperatedly, removed his monocle. "I _am_ an expert. Unfortunately my pantheon of scholarship does not extend to _all_ the blueprints of Seti's best laid traps, no matter how closely I've studied him."

"Yeah well, now we're short three diggers because a' it!" Daniels huffed, the volume of his voice rising slightly. "This wouldn't have happened if ya told 'em to leave the statue alone!"

"Mr. Daniels, you are not hearing me, sir. Had I possessed the absolute knowledge of what kind of artifice it was, I would've gladly told you," Chamberlin replied defensively but without losing his restraint. If there was one thing he had come to realize about the man, it was that changing Daniels's opinion on _anything_ was like trying to light a match under water: it just wasn't possible.

Daniels scoffed, crossed his arms over the broad expanse of his chest. "Yeah well, maybe you need to update that parthenon a' yers. It coulda came in handy."

Eyebrow raised, Chamberlin calmly leaned back in his seat, crossed one leg over the other and folded his hands on his knee. "You're absolutely right, Mr. Daniels. The Parthenon would've come in handy, if we were in Ancient Greece."

Daniels furrowed his brow perplexedly, tilted his head. "The hell's that s'posed to mean?"

"The Parthenon, my good man, is an acropolis located in the Greek city of Athens. Its main purpose is to serve as a temple for worshipping Athena, the Goddess of Wisdom." Chamberlin paused, calm as ever. "Perhaps you could've used some of her guidance, considering you suffer from an abhorrent scarcity of wisdom of any kind whatsoever," he added, looking Daniels directly in the eyes.

A suffocating silence ensued, the only audible sound being the increased rate of Daniels's breathing as he absorbed Chamberlin's words. "You callin' me stupid?"

Chamberlin nodded nonchalantly. "In layman's terms, yes."

The absolute gall of Chamberlin's snide observation had the bull in Daniels seeing red. He leaned forward, his voice laced with a venomous contempt as it reverberated deep in his chest. "I didn't agree to let you come along jus' so you can insult me, you biscuit-chewin' limey."

Not about to give any ground to the boorish yank's redlining anger, Chamberlin leaned forward as well, replied with equal derision, "And I did not agree to come along just you can use me as a punching bag to take out your frustrations on. Now, either you respect the information I give you and use it to your advantage, or go about this operation by yourself and see how far you get without my help."

"Don't you get all uppity with me!" Daniels barked, jabbing his finger in Chamberlin's face. "So far, I ain't impressed at all with the way this lil' camping trip is bein' run'. That squirrelly numbskull of a guide we got, he don't know what the hell's down there because he ain't never _been_ down there, even though he swears he's been here! An' _you_," he continued heatedly, rising out of his seat. "Struttin' in here actin' like you's the great All-Knowing. If you knew the Goddamn compartment was rigged, how come you didn't tell us to jus' skip over it an' look somewheres else? What the hell's wrong with the lot a' ya? You tryin' to get us killed?" He stopped, his hair practically standing on end and his chest heaving with his wild panting. But then his face suddenly grew very dark, his eyes narrowing accusingly on the scholar. "How do I know the two a' ya ain't tryin' to pull one over on me, huh?"

Amazingly, Chamberlin had managed to keep the lid on his boiling pot of emotions, speaking with the same, persistent calm. "Mr. Daniels, if I wanted to con you, sir, you would not even know you were _being_ conned. Furthermore, an incompetent charlatan like Mr. Gabor is the last person I would willingly work with as an accomplice." Still seated, he then folded his arms knowingly. "Need I remind you also that your friend Mr. Henderson was more than eager to pry that compartment open? That's why I ordered the natives to do it instead." He squared his eyes on the overheating tomb raider. "Those three unfortunate Bedouins could have been _you_."

It took a moment for that assessment to penetrate through the hard enamel of rage amalgamating around the rational center of Daniels's brain. That _was_ the truth, after all.

The cowboy's dumbstruck look encouraged Chamberlin to continue. "Honestly, your fears about a possible coup against you and your friends are unmerited. I can assure you, sir, that I am as much on par with you in this effort to dig up whatever Seti has hidden down there and bring it to the surface." After a carefully timed pause, he nodded towards the seat Daniels had vacated briefly for the opportunity to get on his soapbox. "Now, would you care to sit down?"

Daniels just stared at him, wordless, his rate of breathing beginning to lower. The hard, narrow-eyed expression did not wane though, the muscles in his back and shoulders still painfully rigid.

Chamberlin furrowed his brow, rubbed his hand on his chin, seemed to be studying the dramatic yet strangely comical display of impulsive barbarity the man was putting on. Clearly, Daniels did not want to sit. "Might I suggest you take this opportunity to retire for the evening, give yourself a chance to cool off? I think your blood pressure would be most grateful if you did."

Daniels snarled. "If I had a thermometer, I'd stick it up yer ass, _Doc_."

Chamberlin ignored the remark, didn't seem fazed in the least. "Well then, if you don't mind, I would like to retire myself. We have quite the day ahead of us tomorrow after all." He stood up, smothered a yawn, went about tidying his space up. All the while, Daniels hadn't moved from his position, eyes still fixed sharply on him.

Chamberlin sighed exhaustedly, picked up his parasol and clutched it closely to him. "There is no need to prove your mettle to me, Mr. Daniels. You've already successfully convinced me that you are a 'force to be reckoned with', so the saying goes. However, your powers of intimidation, whatever they may be, have yet to affect me. I am here on serious business, just as you are, and I would appreciate it if you could keep that volatile temper of yours in check, as I will not tolerate it."

Daniels scoffed, shook his head disbelievingly. _The more he talks, the more I jus' wanna put my fist right through his teeth._

"I am not a scared animal cowering in a cage, and _you_, sir, are not the master who wields the whip I am so deathly afraid of. We are _partners_. If you have a concern, I am more than happy to address it..."

"Yeah, yeah, I get it. Sermon over now? Christ Almighty," Daniels grumbled, the start of a throbbing headache burying into the walls of his temples. "Don't you ever run outta hot air?"

Chamberlin offered up a sickeningly smug smirk. "It's what I was put on this earth to do."

Daniels clenched his teeth so hard that his jaw began to ache. "Alright, alright! Enough already!" Chamberlin was right: no matter how much of his anger Daniels threw his way, the man would not budge. Seeing that there was no way in Hell Chamberlin was going to allow him to win the round, Daniels decided to cut his losses and leave with his pride still mostly intact. "Ya better damn well hope we don't run into anymore traps, unless you plan on finishin' this _business_ by yerself."

"Everything will be fine, Mr. Daniels, as long as you listen to me," Chamberlin replied coolly, nodding towards the tent flaps in an indication for Daniels to leave. "Now, goodnight."

"The hell I will!" Snorting contemptuously, Daniels turned abruptly on his heel and stormed out of the tent. _He's got a lotta fuckin' nerve talkin' to me like that_. He hadn't gotten much farther than his own tent a dozen yards away, stopping outside of it, arms folded tightly with his shoulders slouched in a sulky manner. As much as Daniels despised taking orders from a man who made a living off being smarter than everyone else, it was pretty hard ignoring the fact that Chamberlin was the only one with an inkling of what they would find during their stay in Hamunaptra. And Chamberlin was correct: _not_ listening to him could prove to be fatal. He sighed languidly, closed his eyes and willed his stress to level off. _Whatever. Jus' as long as we strike gold. God, I really hope we do._

After Daniels stalked off out of sight, Chamberlin released the pent-up exhalation of blessed relief from his body as the tension in it melted away. He fell back heavily into his seat, looked at the parasol clenched tightly in his hands. _It's a miracle I didn't have to beat him out of the tent with this._ Truthfully, Chamberlin had impressed himself with the way he handled Daniels and his deplorable temper tantrum. _If that man is miserable, then everyone is. But I refuse to be brought down to his level._ It was understandable to Chamberlin that Daniels would show some anxious frustration and confusion towards what had happened in the Anubis chamber; he just needed more control over his emotions, that was all.

After laying the matter to rest in his mind, Chamberlin decided upon reading a little more before turning in. He couldn't stop himself from grinning though as he turned the pages, knowing they had only scratched the surface in their mission to dig up the ruins. Perhaps the worst was over, and now all that stood between them and Seti's treasure was the will to keep searching.

_Whatever waits for us down there tomorrow, we shall be ready for it._


End file.
